Is Sports The New Cool? Exploring London's Fascination with Sportswear

Edward Crutchley SS15

England has long been known for its sartorial strength, inventing the suit and home to the iconic Savile Row, a street dedicated to tailoring. All of this heritage and sartorial culture seems to have been lost on the new generation of designers who are mostly inspired by sportswear or its new fancy term ‘active wear’.A look at most of the spring summer collections from London would reveal an ubiquitous presence of sports influence. Sweatshirts, hoodies, baseball jackets, basketball shorts and baggy shorts were reworked by most of the designers in one form or the other.

James Long SS15

NasirMazhar has always been a fan of basketball shorts and it’s become his staple item. James Long became famous for his interesting use of knits and threads for spring 15 he maintained a sporty vibe with appliqued sweatshirts and shiny baseball jackets.

Newcomer Edward Crutchley who showed under the Fashion East collective, employed psychedelic prints to sweatshirts and jogging bottoms. Active wear was simply the order of the day at the shows and it only shows that the designers are simply reflecting the vibe from the street.

Christopher Shannon SS15

Sportswear has sort of become second skin to a lot of people. Ideally a young kid owns a pair of sneakers before he owns dress shoes, a hoodie before a suit. In comparison to tailoring, sportswear is relatively more affordable. Fashion trends like pairing sneakers with a suit or wearing pool slides with sports socks have added to the sports allure.

Nasir Mazhar SS15

The recent Spornosexual evolution – which I explored earlier – might also be a reason why sports is the new cool as more people lead a healthy and active lifestyle that involves the gym, running or some other form of sports.